Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Tuesday 22 June 1999

Scottish Executive

Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to review the plans to establish a new college of Further Education at Kilwinning in Ayrshire.

Henry McLeish: No. The contract was signed in March 1999 and construction is underway. The people of North Ayrshire are looking forward to the benefits of accessing a major new local FE facility by the middle of the year 2000.

Fuel Poverty

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for dealing with fuel poverty in Scotland.

Ms Wendy Alexander: We attach high priority to tackling fuel poverty in Scotland. We are pursuing this through the new £12 million Warm Deal which will come into effect on 1 July 1999 and will help low-income households in all sectors of the stock and provide work for unemployed youngsters. The investment programmes which will flow from the New Housing Partnerships initiatives and the resources available to local authorities for works to their own stock will also reduce the number of fuel poor.

National Carers Strategy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to increase its planned expenditure on the National Carers Strategy and if so, when and by how much.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish a progress report on the implementation of the National Carers Strategy in Scotland.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to ring fence any or all of the planned expenditure for the implementation of the National Carers Strategy.

Iain Gray: I am considering with my colleagues in the Scottish Executive how to take the National Carers Strategy forward in Scotland. An announcement will be made in due course.

Social Inclusion

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether in light of its policy for social inclusion, it intends to take any action in relation to trainees with disabilities at ‘Growing Concern’ whose wishes to remain on public horticultural land at Daldovie, Glasgow are not being adhered to by Glasgow City Council.

Ms Wendy Alexander: This is a matter for Glasgow City Council.

Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish, as soon as possible after 1 July 1999, details relating to its liability to pay for the costs incurred in respect of building the M6 cross-border motorway link and any future running costs that may or will be incurred together with clarification as to whether any of the costs relate to parts of the motorway link located within England.

Sarah Boyack: An analysis of the liability and costs which fall to the Scottish Executive for the M6 Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) contract can be examined in the Report The Contract to Complete and Operate the A74(M)/M74 Motorway in Scotland published on 9 April 1999 by the National Audit Office. The DBFO contract included an option to construct to motorway standard the Guards Mill-Carlisle section of the A74 in England and to maintain and operate the section of road between the border and Carlisle. As the Report states, this option was not ultimately taken up, therefore the geographical limits of the contract lie entirely within Scotland.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer (a) what plans there are to implement roadworks to address the traffic problems created by a Parliament on the Holyrood site and other nearby developments; (b) who will pay for the roadworks, and (c) what is the estimated cost of the roadworks.

Sir David Steel: The traffic impact assessment carried out by Halcrow Fox and completed in early June 1999 did not identify significant traffic problems arising from the siting of the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. Roadworks will be required as part of the landscaping design of the area surrounding the building. Cost estimates are not yet available and funding is a matter for the Scottish Executive.

Holyrood

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Presiding Officer whether a traffic impact study related to the Parliament Building proposed at Holyrood has been carried out, when the report of the study will be available, and who is paying for the study.

Sir David Steel: A traffic impact assessment was carried out by Halcrow Fox to consider traffic issues in the area surrounding the site of the new Scottish Parliament building at Holyrood. The study report forms part of the ‘Notice of Proposed Development (Reserved Matters)’ application and is available for public inspection at the City of Edinburgh Council Planning Department, 1 Cockburn St. Edinburgh. The cost of the study will be met by the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.